Godfather actor Abe Vigoda is dead, after spending 34 years telling the world he wasn’t

Abe Vigoda, the sad-eyed American actor best known for roles in The Godfather and the 1970s sitcom Barney Miller, has died, after famously spending three decades telling the world that he hadn’t.

Vigoda’s daughter, Carol Vigoda Fuchs, said her father died at the age of 94 at her home in New Jersey. “He died in his sleep, of natural causes. He was not sick,” she said.

Vigoda, who was adept at drama and comedy with a hang-dog face, slouched posture and slow delivery, played mobster traitor Salvatore Tessio in The Godfather in 1972, his first credited movie role. His character was doomed for betraying the Corleone family in the film but had a cameo role in the flashback scenes of The Godfather Part II two years later.

His most famous role was as the grumpy and deadpan Detective Sergeant Phil Fish in the Barney Miller police comedy series. He picked up three supporting-actor Emmy nominations for the part.

Vigoda spent years amiably proving he was still alive after People magazine mistakenly declared him “the late Abe Vigoda” in 1982, when he was 62. The question of his mortality became a running gag that he learned to live with.

WATCH: Abe Vigoda and Betty White star in famous Snickers ad